When we post the demo VM we include a VMC files because we ship the VM built under VPC2007. In this VMC file it has the setup for the machine i.e disks, network, memory etc. If you create you’re own VMC file or you are using Hyper-V or Windows7 (VPC7) then this post is just a reminder to make sure you include the database VHD file in the disk configuration when you setup AX-SRV-01.
From Refresh 2, for performance reasons, we split off the SQL DB’s and Windows page file on to a second VHD file. So if you don’t attach this disk then the VM will start up ok but any server/application dependant on SQL databases won’t start because it won’t be able to find it’s database.
So if you create you machine config and you find that the AOS service is not starting, check that you included the DB disk in your setup.
We also started posting out additional VHD files which can be used with the demo VM. For example in Refresh 2 one for Lean Manufacturing and recently one for Process Manufacturing (more on this one later).
The reason for using the additional VHD files is that we can post updates that you can use with the VM without having to download a whole new VM. In this past this was done with diff disks. But diff disk are specific to VPC and with the different virtualizations technologies, VPC, Hyper-V, VPC7 we need a method to work across platforms. The other technologies have their version of Diff disks, e.g. snapshots in Hyper-V but that means we would need to post all the different versions.
So using the additions VHD files provides a more flexible way to ship new functionality for the VM. I’ll be calling these additional VHD files “Application Disks”.
Another important reason for starting to create the “Application Disks” is that we can change the base image and allow you to still use the “Application Disks” with the new base. There will be some minor tweaks but more flexible then use posting diff disks. Another advantage is that you can take these disks and you can create your own diff disks to manage the changes to the base VM which means you can manage your own setup the way you want and not so dependant on what we change.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I had a question from a partner on the password for the AX-SRV-03 VM. So thought I’d re-post a note about passwords on the demo VMs. All the Dynamics AX demo passwords for the VMs are pass@word1 and the domain is CONTOSO.
You will have trouble with passwords if you are using a non US English keyboard or using the language input bar. See the note I posted here
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/09/28/passwords-on-the-demo-vms.aspx
Also if you have set the VM up with only 1 Network card or changed the networking on the VMs you may have trouble logging on as they are setup to authenticate from the AD on AX-SRV-01. So if you are using AX-SRV-03 and it can’t talk to AX-SRV-01 then you also may have trouble logging. See these notes on the networking setup on the VMs :
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/pages/dynamics-ax-2009-demonstration-toolkit-refresh-2-setup-notes.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/07/21/setting-up-external-networking-on-the-demo-vms.aspx
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I’ve had this question a few times from partners so thought I’d post a note. To get updated transactional data into the OLAP cubes you will have to process the cubes in SQL Analysis Services. The question I’ve had relates to adding new companies in Dynamics AX.
In the SQL Management Studio there are two places to process cubes on the cube itself and at the database level. If you process at the cube level it doesn’t re-calculate the entire DB and so you won’t get new companies. So make sure you process at the database level. For example on the demo VM
1. Click Start\All Programs\Microsoft SQL Server 2005\SQL Management Studio.
2. When it opens connect to Analysis Services
3. When you expand the tree you will find the databases for example “Dynamics AX” on the demo VMs. if you expand the tree further you will see the cubes. If you right click on the database level of on a cube you will get a Process option on the submenu.
4. Only processing at the database level eg “Dynamics AX” on the demo VMs will update the whole OLAP db and pick up new AX companies you might have created.
It will take a minute or 2 to process depending on the data you have and the machine you are running on.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I’ve had a few questions on the Office activation on the demo VM and I’ve posted a few notes on the topic.
The last note I posted might have confused a few folks thinking they can only get past the activation by putting in a product key. The answer is that you may not have to manually put in a key.
The first thing to try is to connect to the internet and try to activate over the internet. See this note on connecting the VM to the internet.
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/07/21/setting-up-external-networking-on-the-demo-vms.aspx
If you can’t get that to work because of the network you a connected to the see this note :
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/08/24/activation-of-office-on-the-demo-vms.aspx
99% of the time most people can get past just connecting to the internet and activating.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
10/12/09 Running under Hyper-V ? As an addendum to this post I have a note from Tom who said that running under Hyper-V he’s found it consistent that connecting to the internet and activating doesn’t work for the VM so you will have to try the method suggested in this note
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/archive/2009/08/24/activation-of-office-on-the-demo-vms.aspx
I’ve have been working on a few projects so a little slow at posting notes the last couple of months. I’ve had a few questions about passwords for the demos VMs. We keep them the same regular demo password which you will find in the release notes.
This may lead to some challenges in countries where the keyboard is a different layout or you have the Windows language bar turned on for different language input, other than US English.
The problem is with the @ symbol that is in the password. So if you have having trouble logging onto the CONTOSO domain with the pass@word1 password. Then open notepad on your machine. eg Click Start, Run, type in notepad.exe
Type in the password there to see how it is being input. If it is not being entered correctly then you will have some issues logging onto the VM. So change you keyboard or language bar settings to enter till you find the right combination to get the @ symbol to allow you to log on.
Also if you decide to change the password for the Administrator you will have to change the password in a lot of places in the setup, so best to work out the right key combination on your keyboard to get the input.
I’d be interested to hear how many people have trouble with this. As a percentage of the people using the VM I’ve only heard a few questions. But if it’s a bigger problem then we’ll consider making changes.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
For the developer types among you Peter Villadsen and Gustavo Plancarte from the dev team posted a great video on Channel9 discussing the X++ language and the work that they are doing around MSIL.
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Charles/Peter-Villadsen-and-Gustavo-Plancarte-Inside-Ax-Translator-X-to-MSIL/
Really interesting video on the background of the language in Dynamics AX and a glimpse on where things are going.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
There are a few things that can go wrong when unzipping the files for the demo VM. This is one I’ve run into a few times with new external disks.
If you can an error when uncompressing to an external disk that says something like “Probably the disk is full” and you know that there is space. It is likely that the disk is formatted with FAT32 and not NTFS that really supports large files sizes like the size of the VHD files that exist with the demo VM.
You can convert the disk format to NTFS. Close any files you might have open on the disk.
Click Start Run. Type in CMD to go to the command prompt. When are at the command prompt “convert H: /FS:NTFS” replace H: with the drive letter that your drive is attached as. It will look something like this.
Run that it will take a minute or two to convert. Then try the unzip again.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I had a question from a partner looking for demo scripts for Lean Manufacturing. You can find ones that the dev team prepared for use with the data set that on Refresh 2 of the demo VM. You can find the scripts here
https://mbs.microsoft.com/partnersource/partneressentials/partnerreadiness/resourcing/mdaxleanmanufacturing.htm?printpage=false&stext=Lean
If you are looking for instructions on using the Lean disk for the demo VM’s this note will help you out.
http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/pages/dynamics-ax-2009-demonstration-toolkit-refresh-2-setup-notes.aspx
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
So I had a question that prompted me to remind people about the setup for Workflow. The workflow in AX runs under the Windows Workflow foundation which is hosted, in AX2009, under IIS. This engine and the AOS communicate together to execute the workflow.
So if you have running the demos VMs and the workflows are in the queue but you they are not running for you then make sure you have the Webserver running on the demo VM.
To do this click Start\Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Services. Scroll down to “World Wide Web Publishing Service” and start this service.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
So this is probably a good sign that the VMs that we ship are used a lot. It seems if you try to register Office on the demo VMs it might start telling you that it has been activated too many times.
So as a partner you will have access to a NFR copy of Office or if you have an MSDN subscription you can get a product key/Id from there to use.
If you are having trouble finding one then get a 60day Eval key from the Office website
http://us20.trymicrosoftoffice.com/product.aspx?sku=3203819&culture=en-US
Until you can find one that you have more permanent usage of.
8/25 Just adding and addendum as I got a email from Carl. This link maybe useful for some of you have have the office activation issue and you want to use your MSDN license. http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/01/12/how-to-reset-or-change-microsoft-office-2007-product-license-key-or-volume-license-key-vlk/
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I had a note from Chuck to remind people about the use of Electronic Signature on the demo VM. You will note that the configuration key is turned off. So to set it up you will need to turn it on.
So navigate to Administration\Setup\System\Configuration.
Check the config key. Click Ok and let the sync go through.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I got an email from Scott Hamilton noting that his new book titled “Managing Lean Manufacturing using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009” was released on August 10th.
You can pick this up from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097925521x
I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet but it has got some good reviews. Scott has a series of books that you can pick up. These are great books for those new to concepts in distribution and manufacturing.
His books are great companions to the AX training materials as you have the business concepts in Scott’s books and the product mechanics in the AX training materials.
Good timing seeing Lean for AX2009 got to RTM and we included in on the Refresh 2 demo VM.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I’ve had a few questions about getting the release note from the Partnersource page. When you try to download it it comes down as a zip file.
There is a issue with Partnersource and docx files. So when you see that a file is a Word docx file like the release notes for the VM.
Right click on the file in Partnersource. Click Save Target As.
When the save dialog box opens. Type the extension as docx and change the file type to all types.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/
Just back from a couple of weeks off so catching up on some questions. I’ve had a few different questions around a similar topic. The question relates to adding your partner solutions to the demo VM.
Two questions come from this.
- Can we get the dev codes for BUS and VAR to add our solutions. The answer is yes they will be posted to Partnersource page. Scroll down to the bottom to the “Demo License Files” section and pick up the Development codes.
- Re-distributing your solution to other partners. The best practice is to use the Differencing disk feature of VPC to create a “Diff” disk which contains your partner solution. Then get the partner to download the original VM from the Partnersource site and then give them a copy of your diff disk. Our basic practice is that we update the VM each 6 months archiving the previous VM to a new page if you still need the previous VM that you built your “Diff” disk from.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash
I had a prompt from Jose and Tim in the UK about reminding people about setting up the Period Code on an employee if you want to use Project Time sheets.
In the demo data only the user Prakash is setup. If you want to setup another user then the basic steps are :
1. Go to Human Resources\Common Forms\Employee Details. Locate the employee you need to setup. Click the Setup tab. Attach a PeriodCode.
2. Click the Setup Button. Select Period status.
3. Click the Update employee periods button. Enter a suitable period range. Click Ok.
Cheers
Lachlan
Original post at http://blogs.msdn.com/lcash/
